Cedarville to award contract to build new bridge

Cedarville city officials will award a contract to build a new bridge on Neal Road during a special meeting set for 6 p.m. Thursday night at the city hall.

Bids were opened to the public Tuesday night to replace a low water bridge on Neal Road that is frequently flooded during heavy rain, said Cedarville Mayor Mark Isenhower.

“Neal Road is our next road to chip and seal, so we need to get that low water crossing taken care of,” Isenhower said.

School buses, senior meal delivery and postal services need to travel the road, which often has issues of flooding, Isenhower said.

Cedarville received a 50 percent matching hazard mitigation grant of $29,000 from the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management.

“We estimated that it will take about $58,000 to replace the bridge,” Isenhower said.

Plans for the bridge include replacing the concrete slab and rusted metal culvert with pre-made concrete culverts at a higher elevation, Isenhower said. A construction schedule has not yet been set.

Crawford County Department of Emergency Management Director Brad Thomas helped the city apply for the grant. The county also received a hazard mitigation grant to improve the 300 block of Fine Way Street, Thomas said.

Crawford County’s grant is for $21,660 of the total $43,320 costs to improve Fine Way, which is located north of Alma, Thomas said.

Road crews will replace round culverts on the street with five feet by 12 feet concrete box culverts, Thomas said.

“It’s going to raise the elevation of the water crossing, plus it will be able to move more water,” Thomas said.

Fine Way’s improvements will be completed by December, Thomas said.

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